DHS Report: Over 30K Migrant Kids Missing, At High Risk For Trafficking

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According to a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed to keep tabs on more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children in the last five years.

The report, titled “Management Alert – ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Custody,” was sent to Congress on Tuesday by the DHS’s internal watchdog.

According to a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed to keep tabs on more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children in the last five years.

“ICE must take immediate action to ensure the safety of UCs residing in the United States. Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. Although we identified more than 32,000 UCs who did not appear for their immigration court dates, that number may have been much larger had ICE issued NTAs to the more than 291,000 UCs who were not placed into removal proceedings. By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

From 2019 to 2023, ICE moved over 448,000 unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Nevertheless, ICE has been unable to track down the whereabouts of more than 32,000 of these children who did not show up for their assigned immigration court hearings.

“During our ongoing audit to assess ICE’s ability to monitor the location and status of UCs [unaccompanied children] who were released or transferred from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we learned ICE transferred more than 448,000 UCs to HHS from fiscal years 2019 to 2023,” the report states. “However, ICE was not able to account for the location of all UCs who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court.”

The report highlights the difficulties ICE encounters in monitoring unaccompanied minors after they are released from detention.

A large number of these children fail to attend their immigration court hearings after release, resulting in a substantial number being untraceable by the agency.

The internal watchdog emphasized that despite ICE’s obligation to supervise these minors throughout the immigration process, the agency has faced challenges in fulfilling this responsibility efficiently.

“Despite its responsibilities for overseeing UCs [unaccompanied migrant children] through the immigration process, we found ICE cannot always monitor the location and status of UCs once they were released from DHS and HHS custody,” the report notes.

The report also condemns ICE for its inconsistent adherence to new guidance issued by the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), aimed at improving the monitoring of unaccompanied children.

This guidance was designed to aid in verifying the whereabouts of children who did not appear in court and to improve coordination with HHS.

However, it is noted in the report that ICE frequently disregarded this guidance and did not provide corresponding instructions to its field officers.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari’s report, directed to ICE Deputy Director and Senior Official Patrick Lechleitner, raises concerns about the effectiveness of ICE’s current procedures and their broader impact on immigration enforcement. The presented numbers in the report could potentially be even more alarming.

The findings indicate that approximately 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children have not been scheduled for removal proceedings, partly due to ICE’s habitual failure to assign court dates and serve notices. This comes at a time when there is increased scrutiny of DHS and ICE for their management of the surge in migrants from South America.

Their inability to effectively handle the influx of unaccompanied minors has resulted in significant gaps in the system, allowing thousands of children to slip through unnoticed.

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American Patriot

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